Turning over the Washington Wizards roster in five trades
By Dylan Hughes
The Washington Wizards are on the verge of a fire sale, which would mean some very good players being moved. Here are five trades Washington could make.
You get a Wizard! You get a Wizard! For the right price, your favorite NBA franchise can have its own Wizard. After a rough 5-11 start, the Washington Wizards have become open to the idea of trading any of their players — including John Wall and Bradley Beal.
After this report from Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania followed up with reports of a recent volatile practice that included Bradley Beal criticizing Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld as well as verbal altercations between Beal, Wall, Jeff Green, and Austin Rivers. Wall also cussed out head coach Scott Brooks and was fined.
Washington’s slow start may have been enough for the front office to consider a fire sale, but the volatile nature of the locker room may guarantee player movement of some sort.
The Wizards do have some intriguing players, specifically Wall and Beal, but tearing apart this roster may not be an easy task. They have a few big contracts on the books, headlined by Wall’s $170 million extension that kicks in next season. Otto Porter is owed nearly $82 million over the next three seasons (includes this season). Ian Mahinmi makes nearly $16 million this season and will make just a touch less next season.
Perhaps the most valuable player on the Wizards is Beal, who is locked in through 2021 and will make about the same amount of money as Porter.
There are other pieces to the roster that Washington could deal as well, and surely will if they are going for a full tear-down.